Feed magazine



May 11 1926. I 1,584,236

' S. MAGNANO FEED MAGAZ INE Filed pril 10. 1924 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 May 11 1926.

5. MAGNANO FEED MAGAZINE Filed April 10. 1924 2 ts sheet 2 Patented May 11, 1926. i i i UNITED STAT ES PAT NT OFFICE.

ooaronATIoN, or LAWRENCE, MASSACHUSETTS,- A CORPORATION 011 MASSACHU- SETTS.

FEED MAGAZINE.

Application filed A ril 10, 1924. Serial no. 705,648.

This invention relates to mechanism for 5 is a vertical section, parts bein cking OE and delivering articles one by omitted, substantially on the line. 5 5 one in succession from a stack or magazine Fig. 1; and I p I I and more particularly to improved devices Fig. 6 is aview similar to Fig.4 but showfor moving the articles comprising the stack ing the follower devices in inoperative postto or which are disposed in series within the tion to facilitatefilling the magazine. a magazine toward the picking off or selecting In the illustrated embodiment of the in-1 devices in order to provide a continuoussup- \"ention the drop wire feeding machine com- 1 ply of the articles atthe picking off point. prises spaced substantially parallel sidev F orpurposes of illustration the invention frame members 1 and 2 connected at their is herein disclosed as embodied in a mechaotter or rear ends by a transverse bar 3 (Fig. nism for pickingioff and delivering detached 3) and at their forward ends by transverse loom elements, for examp' e, drop wires from bars or shafts 4, 5 and 6; The frame thus a magazine or horizontal stack to the-warp formed is supported upon wheels or rollers? threads of a loom. \Vhen asin this mechaand 8 adapted to move along guide rails 9, of nism the article to be fed is quite thin and which but one is shown, which are tempothe picking or selecting device engages the rarily arranged above the I sheet of warp I edge of the article to push it endwise from threads to which. the drop wires are to be the stacker magazine, it is essential for acapplied. Sucha sheet of threads is indicurate. operation. that the articles forming rated diagrammatically in section at W, the stack all he in planessubstantially pan- Fig. 2. I i I i allel to the path of movement of the picker A main drive shaft 10 is journaled in device as any inclinationto such path results bearings in the. upper parts of the frame in failure of the picker to engage the edge membersl and 2 and may be rotated in any of the article. suitable manner, as for example by an elec- The principal obj ect of the present inven. tric motor, notshown, carried by the frame. tion is toprovide simple and dependable This drive shaft 10 is provided at its 0p-. mechanism for pushing the articles'comprisposite ends with cranks indicated generally ing the stack forwardly toward the picking at 11 in Fig. 1 connected by suitable .con- 30 devicewithout subjecting them to any force necting rods and slide bars indicated generwhich would have a substantial tendency to ally at 12 withfa warp selecting mechanism swing them out of perpendicularity to their indicated at 13. As the arrangement and path of movement toward the picker. A operation of this warp selecting mechanism further object is to provide means capable forms no part of the present invention, it is of simultaneously feeding forward a pluralunnecessary to describe it in, detail. ity of parallel stacks of articles toward c0r- The space between the side members 1 and responding picker devices, the feedingmeans 2 of the frame provides for a plurality of comprising a common actuating element. parallel magazines for the drop wires. In I In the accompanying drawings a pre-' the present instance four such magazines are ferred embodiment of the invention is illusprovided, these magazines consisting respee trated by way of example: tively of elongate fiat bars 1 1, 15, 1,6 and 17 Fig. 1 is a side elevation, partly .broken togetherwith the spaces above and to each away, of a machine for delivering drop wires side of the respective bars. I

from a magazine or horizontal stack to the I The several bars 14, 15, 16-and 17 respecwarp threads offa loom and embodying the tively are supported at their rear or outer we present invention; V j I ends upon adjustable brackets 18 carried by Fig. 2 is a fragmentary vertical section the cross rail 3, At its forward end each taken longitudinally through the" delivery of the bars is provided with a depending lug end of one of the stacks or magazines f as 19 secured to a bracket mounted upon the 50 viewed in V a transverse connecting bar 6 The several 05 Fig. 3 is an elevation, parts being omitted, magazine bars are thus supported in parallel from the right hand endof Fig. 1; relationv and with their upper edges sub- Fig. 4 is a fragmentary detail in side elestantially horizontal. I I vation of the improved follower devices com- A The forward ends of the several magazine 55 prised in the present invention; spaces are defined by a transverse vertical 11o from the drive plate 20 secured at its oppositeedges to the frame members 1 and2 respectively. This plate is provided with a vertical slot lying in the vertical plane of each of the magazines bars 14;, 15; 16 and 17 andfthe plate is spaced from the forwardends of the respective magazine bars a distance substantially equal to the thickness of one of the drop wires 21 which is to be .fed to the warp threads. As herein illustrated these drop wires are of hairpin type so that they may be straddled over-the magazine bars and held in properrelation" by engagement of their depending legs with the sides of the bars. Obviouslyrif other types "of drop Wires were to be employed the magazines might be constructed otherwise than as herein shown but without in any manner departingfrointhe present invention. As shown i1rFigsf1 and 2, the drop wires are arranged in compact series upon the several magazine bars to form horizontalstacks 21*, the forward wire in each stack engaging the rearsurface of the plate 20.

A picker finger 22 is arranged to slide vertically ,in each of the vertical slots in the plate 20. Each picker finger projects beyo n vthe rear face of the plate 20 a distance substantially equal to or slightly less than .the'thicl rness of one of the drop wires. Each picker finger is carried by a bracket 23 guided to slide vertically and each bracket is connected by a rod 2 1 to acrank carried by a transverse shaft receiving its motion gears indicated generally, at 25. The several cranks operating the picker fingers 22 are disposed at substantiallyv 90 apart so that the picker fingers are moved in succession.

In Fig. 2 one of the forward drop wires is shown as beginning its downward move-, ment and when the" picker finger 22 has nearly reached the lower limit of its inovement the projecting lower end of the drop wire is caught between two constantlyrotating rolls 27 and 28 and is thereby fed down untilits legs engage a separator device 29 which spreads them to permit them properly to straddle over the warp thread which has been selected and is held in proper position by the mechanism 13. A temporary support 30 is provided for receiving the weight of the drop wire as the latter is delivered by rolls 27 and 2,8 to prevent breaking the thread.

The mechanism constituting ;.the present invention is designed to push the series of drop wires constituting each stack 21Fbodily toward the plate 20 at the delivery end of the machine to provide a constant supply for the picker 22 to act upon. 'This a mechanism comprises a pair of vertically spaced guides 32 and 33 supportedatthe'ir rear ends in a bracket 31 carried by the cross rail 3 at their forward ends in a suit gear 37 car led by shaft 10 through a train of plates are of substantially the feeding ried by the support able bracket not shown supported by the side members 1 and 2. These guides are preferably, arranged bet "een the -middle magazines, that is to say between the vertical planes of the supporting bars l5 and 16. A sliding support '34 is 'mounted'upon the guides 32 and 33 to slide toward and from the delivery end of the magazines. This support 35L is provided with an internally screw-threadedbore substantially parallel to but intermediate the guides 32 and 33 for the reception of a threaded shaft 35. This shaftfis journaled' at its rear end in the b *acket 31 and at its forward end in the bracket which supports the forward ends of the guides 32 and 33. i

The end of the shaft 35 is furnished with a bevel gear 36 meshing with a bevel I f a a transverse shaft 38 journaled in -"suitable bearings carried by the frame. A ratchet wheel 39 is secured tothe shaft 38 and lever arm 40 is mounted to turn freely upon said shaft This lever arm 'earries a driving .41 engageableiwith the teeth of he ratchet 39 and is rocked by means of a connecting rod 2whose opposite end is secured'to a crank 43 carried'by a shaft 44 which is rotated by the gear train The arrangement is such that as each drop'wire is feddown Wal'dly, the ratchetwheel 39 is mowers:- wardone tooth. Pre also secured to the shaft 38' and this pinion meshes with a gear 46profvided with a hand crank 47' which is useful in turning the shaft 38 reversely before loading magazines.

The sliding support 34 is provided with i an upstanding bracket 48 to which a fixed transversely extending shaft 49 is secured. This shaft extends across the entire series of inagazines and supports bell crank levers vertical planes of the respective drop wire ppo in b the magazines is furnished with a follower plate 51' adapted to engage the rearmost drop wire in the magazine." These follower same width as the drop wires and vertically elongate. Their lower ends as indicated at 51 jare preferably bifurcated to straddle over the upper edges of the corresponding magazine bars. Each follower plate is provided with a rearwardly extending boss 52 substantially midway its length and this by a pivot pin 53to the lower freeeX- tremity'of the corresponding lever 50. The other arm 54 of each of the bellcr ank leveis is provided with an opening in which one end'of a spring 55 issecured. The opposite ends of the'several springs are connected atthepoints 57 to brackets 58 car- The tendency of 15,16 "and 17. "Each of boss is secured these springs is to swing the lever arms 50 ina clockwise direction as viewed in Fig. 4 so as to press the several follower plates firmly against the rearmost drop wire of'the respective stacks.

The support 34 is also provided with av transverse retaining bar 59 disposed in a horizontal plane below that of the shaft 49 and in a position such that the upper ends of the'several follower plates 51 may be snapped beneath it as shown in Fig.6 to render them inoperative if desired.

I11 the operation of the machine the screw threaded shaft 35 is turned intermittently by the pawl and ratchet mechanism described, thus slowly feeding the support 34 toward the delivery end of the machine. The slight variation in thickness which may occur in the drop wires iscompensated for by the yielding character of the follower plates 51, while the variation in thickness from top to bottom of the drop wires is cared for by the free pivotal movementof the follower plates about their points of connection with the levers 50. The follower plates thus bear with a uniform pressure upon an extended surface of the rearmost drop wires so that the force acting to move the stacks bodily toward the delivery end of the machine is in a direction substantially parallel to the upper edges of the several magazine plates 14, 15, 16 and 17 respectively with the result that the forward drop wire is at all times maintained in close engagement with the inner surface of the plate 20 so that the picker finger 22 may certainly engage the upper edge of the drop wire for feeding it downwardly.

When the drop wires in any particular stack need replenishing the crank 47 is manipulated, after disengagement of the pawl 41 from the ratchet wheel 39, to impart movement to the. shaft 35, thereby oarrying the support at toward the rear end of the machine. While loading a new supply of drop wires into the magazines the follower plates 51 may be swung rearwardly and permitted to snap up behind the retainer bar 59 to prevent them from interfering with the drop wires as they are placed upon the magazine bars. When the magazines have been filled the follower plates are disengaged from the bar 59 and immediately assume operative position, reacting against the stacks of drop wires with resilient pressure.

I claim:

1. In a machine of the class described a magazine for holdinga stack of articles arranged in series, and means for urging the stack toward one end of the magazine comprising a sliding support, a guide for the support, means for moving the support along the guide, a lever mounted on the support, a follower plate pivotally supported by the lever for engaging the endmost ar-' a followercarriedby the lever, and a spring for resiliently urging the follower into engagement with the endmost article in the magazine.

3. In a machine of the class described an elongate magazine forholding a series of articles, a sliding support movable lengthwise of the magazine, a screw-threaded shaft cooperating with the support positively to move the latter toward the delivery end of the magazine, a shaft carried by the support, a lever pivoted upon the shaft, a follower plate pivotally secured to the end of the lever, and a spring connected at its opposite ends to the lever and support respectively tending to press the follower plate into contact with the endmost article of the series.

4:. In a machine of the class described an elongate magazine, a support-arranged to slide lengthwise of the magazine, a screwthreaded shaft having threaded engagement with the support to move the latter positively toward the delivery end of the maga zine, a bell-crank lever pivoted upon the support, an elongate follower plate pivoted at a point substantially midway its length to one arm of the bell-crank lever, and a spring connecting the other arm of the bellcrank lever with the support.

5. In a machine of the class described a magazine comprising an elongate bar for supporting a series of articles, a pair of spaced guides extending substantially parallel to said bar, a support sliding on the guides, means for positively moving the support, a lever fulcrumed on the support, a follower plate pivotally secured to the free end of the lever, and a spring normally urging the follower plate toward the delivery end of the magazine. 7

6. In a machine of the class described a plurality of parallel elongate magazines, a support guided to move in a plane substantially parallel to said magazine, a shaft carried by the support extending transversely of the magazines, a lever pivoted upon the shaft, one for each magazine, a follower plate within each magazine, means pivotally connecting each plate to one of said levers, and independent springs tending to turn the several levers to press their respective follower plates against the contents of the several magazines. l

7. In a machine of the class vdescribed a plurality of parallel magazines each com,- prising an elongated bar for supporting a series of articles, a pair of guides disposed between a pair of adjacent magazines, a support sliding on said guides, a rotary shaft having screw-threaded engagement 'with the support for positively moving the latter longitudinally of the magazines, a shaft carried by the support extending transversely across the several magazines, levers independently pivoted upon said shaft, one lever depending into each magazine substantially in the plane of its elongate supporting bar, an elongate follower plate pivotally secured at a point substantially midway its length to the free extremity of each lever, and aspringtending to move each follower plate toward the delivery end of its respective magazines.

8. I11 a machine of the class described an elongate magazine, a support movable longitudinally of the magazine, a lever pivotally secured to vthe support, a follower plate arranged within themagazine and pivotally connected to the end of the lever, a spring urging the plate toward the delivery end of the magazine, and means for temporarily restoring the plate from moving under the action of the spring.

9. In a machine of the class described a magazine for holding a series of varticles, a support movable longitudinally of the magazine, a lever carried by the support, a follower plate pivotally secured to the lever, a spring tending towmove the follower plate into contact with the endmost article of the series, and a transverse bar carried by the support with which the follower plate may be engagedto retain the plate in inoperative position during the filling of the magazine.

Signed by me atLawrence, Massachusetts, this 29th day of March, 1924.

SEBASTIANO MAGNANO. 

